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General

Information is from dictionaries and other sources. Pinyin reflects Mandarin pronunciation; for some dialect names, it is no more than a polite fiction. Korean glosses are tentative. Comments and corrections welcome. Hover over Green LetteringGreen lettering at this site hides a tool tip with glosses, further explanations, etc. Hover cursor to reveal. to see additional information.

China has 11 species of kingfisher, but only about half are widely distributed in heartland areas. The only alcedinid found across China is the Common Kingfisher. The halcyonid forms with wide distribution are the Ruddy, White-throated, and Black-capped Kingfishers. Both cerylid kingfishers are also widely distributed. The rest are confined to marginal zones such as Yunnan and (in some cases) Hainan.

The kingfishers were traditionally identified by the Chinese as a single group, as seen in the Compendium of Materia Medica (本草纲目běncǎo gāngmù) of the late Ming (first draft 1578), which places all kingfisher names under the heading 鱼狗yúgǒu'fish dog'. The entry points out that there are both blue and speckled (or pied) white varieties. The assignment of names among the three kingfisher groups (halcyonid, alcedinid, and cerylid) is thus a modern development.

Chinese traditional names for the kingfishers can be grouped into three general types:

1. The distinctive ancient name of 鴗lì (or 鴗鸟lì-niǎo'li bird'), found in the Erya (尔雅ěryǎ) of the 3rd century AD. This name is largely obsolete, although some attempts have been made to revive it for ornithological usage (see Other Names column in the tables).

2. Names relating to the plumage of the halcyonid and alcedinid kingfishers.

The ancient name 翡翠fěicuì (sometimes also seen in the form 翡翠鸟fěicuì-niǎo) refers to the iridescent blue and red feathers of the kingfishers, which were in the past prized for decoration and adornment. The name 翡翠fěicuì is made up of two parts: 翡fěi referring to red feathers and 翠cuì referring to blue feathers. The supply of feathers to the Chinese court was a result of trade (including international trade), and ancient sources are confused over the type or types of bird that supplied the feathers. The iridescent blue feathers became predominant and the technique of cutting and gluing the blue feathers in traditional ornamentation was known as 点翠diǎn-cuì'dotting with kingfishers'.

The name 翡翠fěicuì was later extended to 'jadeite', a favourite precious stone of the Chinese, which in the imported Burmese variety came in green and red colours. As a result, 翡翠fěicuì is now usually identified in Chinese with the precious stone rather than the bird.

While 翡翠fěicuì is an ancient and elegant name, the most popular kingfisher name is now 翠鸟cuì-niǎo, which means 'bluefeathered bird' (featuring the 翠cuì from 翡翠fěicuì). This is the usual name of the widespread Common or River Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis).

Chinese has a number of similar kingfisher names indicating colours, including 翠雀儿cuì-qiǎor'bluefeather sparrow', 赤羽雀chì-yǔ què (literally 'red-feathered sparrow'), and 翠碧鸟cuìbì-niǎo'bluefeather blue bird'.

3. Finally, Chinese has a group of names which pay tribute to the birds' prowess at catching fish. These include 鱼狗yúgǒu'fish dog', 天狗tiān-gǒu'heaven dog', 水狗shuǐ-gǒu'water dog', 鱼虎yúhǔ'fish tiger' and 鱼师yúshī'fish master'. According to the Compendium of Materia Medica, birds bearing the name 鱼狗yúgǒu'fish dog' were slightly smaller than those bearing the name 翡翠fěicuì'blue&red-feather'.

The last two sets of names were the usual names for kingfishers in early modern China. In order to fit modern ornithological naming, some adjustment was required.

Ornithological naming

With the split between the halcyonid, alcedinid, and cerylid subfamilies in modern times (culminating in a tendency to split them into three separate families), Chinese ornithologists were forced to come up with a way of distinguishing the three types in their naming.

For the Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), ornithologists deferred to the well-established popular name 翠鸟cuì-niǎo'bluefeathered bird', furthermore extending the name to all of the alcedinid kingfishers.

For the visually quite distinct cerylid kingfishers, with their black and white coloration, the old name 鱼狗yú-gǒu'fish-dog' was adopted.

Finally, the ancient name 翡翠fěicuì was used for the halcyonid kingfishers, although traditionally the name is equally valid for the alcedinid kingfishers, with their red and blue plumage.

This naming is by no means completely entrenched. For example, Taiwanese names still use 翡翠fěicuì in cerylid kingfisher naming.

Glossing

With their multilayered history, the meanings of names like 翡翠 and 翠鸟 are difficult to capture with a simple gloss. For example, 翡翠 can be understood as meaning:

1. 'red&blue-feather' (based on the earliest etymological explanations). The structure of the Chinese characters 翡 and 翠 also suggest this feathered connection since both include the radical 羽 meaning 'feather').

2. As a totality, the name also meant 'kingfisher'.

3. The normal meaning of 翡翠fěicuì in modern Chinese is 'jadeite', a derived meaning that has almost completely obscured the original avian meaning.

According to one of China's earliest dictionaries, the 说文解字Shuōwén jiězì from the Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 220), 翡翠fěicuì combines the names of two birds: 翡fěi or 赤羽雀chì-yǔ què (literally 'red-feathered sparrow'), a type of red-feathered bird, and 翠cuì or 青羽雀qīng-yǔ què (literally 'green/blue-feathered sparrow'), a type of blue-feathered bird. On the other hand, the Compendium of Materia Medica offers the explanation that the colour is sexually determined, with the male mostly red and the female blue. However, the Compendium also gives the alternative explanation that the front of the bird is red and the back blue.

翡翠fěicuì is an ancient name signifying 'red feathers' (翡) + 'blue feathers' (翠), for which certain kingfishers were prized. In modern times Chinese ornithologists have for mostly restricted the name 翡翠fěicuì to the halcyonid kingfishers, although Taiwan still uses it for a cerylid kingfisher.

翠鸟cuì-niǎo, literally 'bluefeather-bird', using the second character in 翡翠fěicuì, is a long-standing general kingfisher name most closely associated with the widespread Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis. As a modern ornithological name it is also extended to other members of the genus Alcedo.

ショウビンshōbin is used ornithologically for the halcyonid kingfishers. All Japanese kingfisher names can be written 翡翠, a Chinese name for the kingfishers. In addition to ショウビンshōbin, 翡翠 can be read as カワセミkawa-semi, ヒスイhisui, and セミsemi (in the name ヤマセミyama-semi only), all meaning 'kingfisher'. (To distinguish the names here, ショウビンshōbin is called 'kingfisher₂'. セミsemi is 'kingfisher₁'.)

カワセミkawa-semi, literally 'river kingfisher', is used ornithologically for the alcedinid kingfishers. Traditionally written in at least three ways: 1. 翡翠, a Chinese name for the kingfishers, which may also be read as ショウビンshōbin, ヒスイhisui, or (in ヤマセミyama-semi 'mountain kingfisher') as セミsemi, all meaning 'kingfisher'. 2. 川蝉, literally 'river cicada', using the character for the homonymous word meaning 'cicada' (セミsemi). 3. 魚狗 'fish-dog', another Chinese name for the kingfishers. 1. and 3. both use a Chinese name as a whole to write カワセミkawasemi. Neither thus contains an individual character representing 'river' (カワkawa).
(To distinguish the names here, セミsemi is called 'kingfisher₁' and ショウビンshōbin is 'kingfisher₂')

ルリruri 'lapis lazuli' may be written two ways in Japanese: 瑠璃 or 琉璃.

ヤマセミyama-semi, made up of ヤマyama 'mountain' plus セミsemi 'kingfisher', is used ornithologically for the cerylid kingfishers. Traditionally written either 1. 山 'mountain' + 翡翠 'kingfisher' (the latter a Chinese word meaning 'kingfisher'), or 2. 山 'mountain' + 魚狗 'fish-dog' (the latter being another Chinese word for 'kingfisher'.) 翡翠 is also used to write the kingfisher names カワセミkawa-semi, ショウビンshōbin and ヒスイhisui. 魚狗 is also used to write the name カワセミkawa-semi.